Electric controller.



A. KIMBLE & J. D. NIES.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED 111111.21, 1913.

Lll

" UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEICE.

AUSTIN IIIMBLE, or oAK PARK, AND JOHN n. NIEs, or sT. CnAnLEs, ILLINoIs,

Assronons To KIMBLE ELECTRIC COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, A coerenti- `Tron or ILLmoIs.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

Application and April 21, 1913. seriai no. 762,459.

To all whom' t may concern Be it known that we, AUSTIN KIMBIE, residin at Oak Park, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, and JOHN D. Nine, residing at St. Charles, Kane county, Illinois, both citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Controllers, of which the following is a specication.

Our invention relates to electric control- 1ers, and refers particularly to. controllers adapted for use in connection with variable speed motors. It is well known that in the speed regulation of a motor it is desirable to operate the motor at as many diierent speeds within the total range of speed variation as possible. Inorder to accomplish this result it is nec essaryto control the voltage supplied to the motor in a series of steps, these steps being separated from each other by small differences in voltage. In order to accomplish this result it would be possible to use a controller with a very large number of contacts, each of these contacts being connected with a suitable tap leading to a transformer or simiiar apparatus. For example, if it were desired to obtain forty-two dierent speeds 'for a motor., each variation of speed 'being represented by a difference in potential of one volt, forty-two separate contacts could be used on the controller. .It is evident, however, that such a contro-ller would be very complicated and inconvenient to operate.

It is one of the objects of our Invention to accomplish the speed regulation of a moto-r over a wide range, While the possible speeds are separated from each other by narrow dillerencee, by the use of simple apparatus which is inexpensive to manufacture and may be readil operated. We accomplish this result by t use of two controller members, these members being preferably 1n the form of rotatable cylinders supplied with a plurality of contacts adapted to engage stationary contacts connected with taps in electrical connection with a transformer. The taps leading tothe contacts associated with one'of the controller members are separated romeach other by a comparatively large number of turns of the transformer winding, so that, for example, the dierence between each ta would represent a difference of potentie of six volts. The second series of taps leading to the contacts associated with the second contro-ller member are separated from each other by comparatively few turns of the transformer winding, so that we will assu-Ine that the dierence of potential between the various taps is one volt. Now let us assume that there are eight taps in each series. It will be evident that by having the motor current dow from one controller member through the transformer and then through the second controller member, by suitable regulation of these members any voltage regulation over a range of fortynine volts may be obtained, the total range in the first series being forty-two volts and in the second seven volts. It will be equally clear that in this total range of forty-nine volts variation any desired voltage to within one volt may be obtained by proper setting` of the two controller members, each change of the first. member representing a difference of six volts and each change of the second member representing a dillercnce of one volt.

A further object of our invention resides `in the provision of suitable apparatus so that in changing the electrical connections of the controller from one Contact to another arcing will be avoided.

A still further object of our invention consists in the use of suitable locking mechanism so that only o-ne of the controller'members may be rotated at the Sametime. For rotation of either of the members the other member must be in a predetermined position.

A further object of our invention relates to the provision of suitable apparatus so that the current may be caused to flow through `the motor lield in either direction,

thereby rendering the motor readily reversible.

These and other objects of our invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a, vertical section thro-ugh the controller casing, showing the interior structure of the controller in front elevation; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the electrical connections used with our improved controller.

Our controller has a casing consisting of a back plate 10, integral with which are the upper plate 11 and the lower plate 12. Contained within a suitable recess in the back plate 10 is the insulating anel 13, to the up per portion of which is astened the upper bearing plate 14 by means of suitable bolts which pass through the insulating panel 13 and the back plate 10 of the casing. Similarly attached to the lower portion of the insulating panel 13 is the lower bearing plate 15.

Our controller is provided with two rotatable members which are roughly in the form of cylinders, each member being mounted on a suitable spindle. The first Y controller cylinder, represented as a whole by 16, is mounted on the spindle 17, which has a bearing 0n its lower end in the bear-` ing plate 15, and at its upper end passes through the upper bearing plate 14 and the upper casing plate 11. rlhe locking disk 18 is mounted at the ,upper portion of the spindle 17, preferably just below the upper bearing plate 14. The extreme upper end of the spindle 17 carries the lever 19, by means of which the spindle 17 .and its associated cylinder 16 are rotated.

The controller cylinder 16 has at its upper end the collar 20, which always remains in engagement with the Contact brush 21 carried on the insulating .panel 10, except when the spindle 17 is turned to its inoperative position to interrupt thelow o'current through the contro-ller. l/Vhen in this position, a recess in the collar 20 (which, for the sake of simplicity, has not been shown in the drawing) is brought opposite' the brush 21, and electrical connection between the latter and the collar is thereby interrupted.

As clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3, a plurality of contacts 22, 23, 24,'25and 26 are mounted on the cylinder 16, all of these contacts being in electrical connection with each other and with the collar 20, inasmuch as the latterand the cylinder 16 are made of electrically conductive material. The brushes 27 ,28,29,30'and 3-1 are mounted on the panel 13, and are adapted to be engaged by the contacts 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 on rotation of the spindle 17.

The second controller member, represented as a whole by 32, is carried on the spindle 33, which at its lower end has a bearing in the bearing plate 15 and at its upper end passes through the bearing plate 14 and the upper casing plate 11, the operating handle 34 being mounted on the upper end of thei spindle 33. This spindle carries near its upper end (preferably just below the bearing plate 14) the locking disk 34a. Thecontreuer member 32 consists of two halves 35 and 36, respectively. Mounted on the portion 36 are a plurality of contacts 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42, while the half collars43 and 44 are also made integral with this half of the controller member, and are in electrical connection therewith. The brushes 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50 are carried by the panel 13, and are adapted to be engaged by the contacts 37 to 42, inclusive. The half collars 43 and 44 are adapted to engage the brushes 43a and 44a, which are on the same side of the controller member 32 as the brushes 45 to 50, inclusive.

rlhe portion 35 of the controller member 32 lcarries a series of contacts 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55 which are adapted to engage the brushes 56, 57, 58, 59 and 60, respectively. Directly above the brush 56 is the brush 61 in the same plane as the brush 45. This brush is adapted to be engaged by the contact 37 when the controller member 32 is suitably rotated, and the brushes. 56 to 60, inclusive, are similarly adapted to be engaged by the contacts 38 to 42, inclusive, on rotation of the controller member 32. Again, the brushes 46 to 50 are adapted to be engaged by the contacts 51 to 55 of the portion 35 of the con- Y troller member 32. rlhe portion 35 of the controller member also carries a semi-circular collar 62 adapted to engage on one side the brush 63 and on the other the brush 64 when the controller member 32 is rotated. s. pair of semi-circular collars 65 and 66 are carried by the spindle 33, these collars being located on the'same sideV of the spindle that is occupied by the portion 36 of the controller member 32. These collars are electricallyl connected with each other but are insulated from the collars 43 and 4A. The collers'65 and 66 are adapted to engage the brushes 67 s and 68, respectively. @n rotation of .the spindle 33, the collars 43 and 44 are adapted to engage the brushes 69 and 70, while at'the same time the collars 65 and 66 engage the brushes 71 and 72.

Mounted near the lower end ofthe spindle' 33 but insulated :from the collars 65 and 66 is the collar 73, which engages the'brushes 74 and 75 except when the spindle 33 is turned to inoperative position, in which case the brushes 74 and 75 are brought into register with the recesses 76 inthe collar 73,' and are thus removed from contact with said collar.

`We have previously mentioned locking disks 18 and 34a carried, respectively, bv the spindles 17 and rEhe locking disk 18y is provided in its periphery with a 'plural l ity of recesses 77, while the looking disk 34"d is 'provided with a recess-78'. The locking ball 7 9 carried by thewpivotallyfmounted arm 80., or otherwise suitablyf'mounted in the casing of the' controller, isfof such dimension that when it engages tlieffrecess 78 in the disk 34B (as indicated 2)', the

.musicas opposite side of the ball 79 is just clear of the periphery of the disk 18, so that the latter may be rotated. When any one of the recesses 77 is brought into register with the ball 79, the disk 34a may correspondingly be rotated; but it will be evident that by means of the construction we have just described neither ofthe disks 18 nor 34a can be rotated unless the other disk is in a predetermined position.

Having described the mechanical construction ofour controller, we will next describe the electrical connections used in the controller. The brushes 63 and 64 are con nected by conductor 87, and a conductor 88 leads from brush 64 to the spark-preventive reactance coil 89, from which conductor 90 leads tothe brush 43a. Conductor 91 serves to connect brush 43a with brush 69, conductbr 92 connects brush 44EL with brush 71, and conductor 93 connects brush 70 with brush 67. Brushes 68 and 72 are connected with each other by the conductor 94.

We will next describe the electrical circuits employed inI connection with our improved controller. The main conductors 95 and 96 lead fro-m a source of alternating current to the switch 97. From one contact of the switch 97 the conductor 98 leads to one end of the winding of the auto-transformer 99. From the second contact of the switch 97 the conductor 100 leads to the brush 74. From. brush 75 the conductor 101 leads to the conductor 102, which, in turn, leads from the brush 60 to the conductor 103. Conductor 103 leads from the second end of the winding of the auto-transformer 99 kto the brush 45.

The conductors 104, 105, 106, 107 and 108 lead from various points on the winding of the auto-transformer 99 to the brushes 31, 30, 29, 28 and 27, respectively, these conductors constituting taps from. the autotransformer. The taps of this series are separated from each other by a comparatively large number of turns ofthe Winding of the auto-transformer 99, thus representing a considerable-difference in potential between' the various taps. We have found it convenient in the case of commercial lines to have a difference of 12 volts between the Vtaps of 'this series.

Conductors 103, 109, 110, 111, 112 and 113 constitute a series of taps leadingfrom Various points of the winding of the autotransformer to the brushes 45 to 50, inclusive. These taps are separated from each other by a comparatively lfew turns of the winding of the auto-transformer, so that the difference in potential between the different taps :is 'comparatively slight. We have foundv that a dilference of four volts is a convenient amount.-

Conductors 109, 110%, 111g, 112a and 113a lead from conductors 109 to 113, respectively, to brushes 59, 58, 57, 56 and 61, respectively.

Conductor 114 serves to connect brush 44a with one lend of the x'ield winding 115 of a motor, and conductor 116 connects the opposite end of this field Winding with the brush 67.

Conductor 117 leads from brush 68 to the coil 118, to the opposite end of which is attached "the brush 119 engaging the armature 120. The brush 121engages the opposite side of the armature 120, and the conductor 122 leads from brush 121 to brush 21.

Having thus described the construction of the various parts which are employed in our controller and inV the electrical system used in connection therewith, the operation of the same may now be readily understood.

On closing the switch 97 and rotating the spindle 33 so that the brushes 74 and 75 engage the conducting collar 73 current passes from the conductor 95 through one of the switch blades of the switch 97, through the conductor 100, to the brush 74, then through collar 73, brush 75, through conductors 101, 102 and 103 to the winding of the autotransformer 99; thence through said winding to the conductor 98, through the second switch blade of the switch 97 te the conductor 96, thereby completing the primary circuit.

New let us assume that the controller member 32 is placed in such position that the contact 42 engages the brush 60 while at the same time the controller member 16 is rotated so that the contact 22 engages the brush 27. The circuit may now be traced as follows: Current flows from the winding of the auto-transformer 99 through conductors 103' and 102 to the brush 60; then through the contact 42 to the portion 36 of the controller member 32 to the half collar 44 to the brush with which the cellar 44 is in contact. Current next passes through conductor 93 to thebrush 67, thence through conductor 116 to the field winding 115; through the latter to the conductor 114 and to the brush 44a; then through conductor 92 to the brush 71; next through half collar 65, through half collar 66 in electrical connection therewith, to brush 72; thence through conductor 94 to brush 68, from which it passes through conductor 117 to the coil 118; thence through brush .119, armature 120, brush 121, conductor 122 and brush 21, to collar 20 of the controller member 16.

'The current then passes through this controller member, contact 22, brush 27, and

twelve volts, Vthe controller member 16 is rotated so that the contact-23 is brought into engagement withl the brush 28. From the controller member 16 the current is, of course, `then traced through contact 23, brush 28 and conductor 107 to the auto transformer. Now, if instead of increasing the voltage by twelve volts, as just described, it should be desired to decrease it by eight volts, for example, the controller member 32 'would be rotated so that the contact 40 would be brought into engagement with the brush 58. The current would now pass from the winding of the auto-transformer through the conductors 110 and 110a to brush 58,' then through contact 40V to the portion 36 `of the controller member 32, and thence lthrough the path #previously described. The voltage now supplied to the motor would be represented by the difference in potential between the tap 108 and the tap 110, which would be eight volts less than in the case of the circuit iirst described, since there is a diiference of potential of four volts between the taps of the series 103, 109, 110, 111, 112 and 113. It will thus be clear that by proper adjustment of the controller members 16 and 32 a'wide range of voltage may be covered in a series of comparatively short steps. It will be evident that in rotating the controller member 32 so that different contacts are brought into engagement with the respective brushes arcing will result unless some provision is made to prevent this co-ndition. We have provided for this in the following manner: Let us assume that the contact 42 is in engagement with the brush 60, and itis desired to bring the contact 41 into engagement with the brush 59. As the controller member 32 is rotated to disengage the contact 42 from the brush just before this disengagement takes placethe contact 51' on the portion 35 of the -controller member is brought into engagement with the brush 46, and current may now iow from the auto-transformer 99 through the conductor 109 to the brush 46; thence through contact 51 to the portion 35 of the controller member to the half collar 62, which would now be in engagement with the brush 64 so that current would flow throuo'h the latter and conductor 88 to the spartir- Vpreventive reactance coil 89, and thence through conductor 90 to the brush 43, and then through conductor 91 to the brush 69 to the half collar 43. From this point the circuit may be traced as previously described. Contact 51 remains in engagement with the brush 46unt-il just after the contact 41 engages the brush 59. In this way there is no interruption in the continuity of the current, and sparking is prevented. If the contact 41 engaged the brush 59 before the contact 42 left the brush 60,'there would be eat liability of burning out the auto-trans ormer.

We will next describe the method of operating the controller in order to reverse the motor. We have previously traced the electric circuit which would result when one of the contacts 3 7 38, 39, 40, 41 or 42 is brought into engagement with one of the brushes 61, 56, 57, 58, 59 or 60, respectively. In this case the current passes through the iield Winding of the motor from the conductor 116 to the conductor 114. In order to reverse 'the flow of current through the motor field, one of the contacts 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 or 42 is brought into engagement with one of the brushes 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 or 50. Let us assume, for example, that the contact 37 is brought into engagement with the brush 45; the current will then flow from the autotransformer 99 through the conductor` 103 to the brush 45; then through the Contact 37, through the portion 36 of the controller member 32, to the half collar 44,\which isy now in engagement with the brush 44a. The current will then pass through the conductor 114 to the field winding 115; thence through the latter through the conductor 116 to the brush 67; thence through the collars and 66 to the brush 68, and from 'thence back to the auto-transformer 99 through the path previously traced. In shifting from one contact to another the contacts 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55 are brought into engagement with the brushes 56, 57, 58, 59 and 60, when the current is shunted around through the portion 35 of the controller member 32, collar 62, brush 63, con ductors 87 and 88, spark-preventive coil 89,

yconductor 90, to brush 43a, and thence to the half collar 43, in a similar manner to that previously described.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes could be made in the detailed construction of the various parts which we have described without departing from the spirit orscope of'our invention.

What we claim is:

1. In an electric controller, the combination with a transformer, of a first series'of taps for said transformer, said taps being separated from each other by a relatively large number of turns of the winding of said transformer, a second series of taps for said transformer, the taps of said second series being separated from each other by a relatively small number of turns of the winding, and means associated With each set of taps for connecting an electric circuit with said transformer through a/selected tap of each series, whereby thevdltage of said circuit may be regulated through a relatively Wide range by a series of relatively narrow steps, substantially as described.

2. In an electric controller, the combinalion with ramsformera of a pair of series of la s connected with a, Winding of said transomci, the taps of *che fs; series bcing separated from 'each futher by a teclavtively large, numbei' oi urns of the Winding of said tzmsfcrmcr 11dl the aps ci the second series being separated from each other by a relatively small number of bums of said Winding, and means connected with M) cach series. of 'taps for including sclccze scribed.

AUSTN KIMSLE. JUHN D. NUES. Witnesses:

JAMES K. BASS, HARRY A. SEAT-0N. 

